Shower support

ABSTRACT

A shower support, with the aid of which a shower head can be placed at a distance from a wall, contains, in addition to the holder for the conventional shower head, at least one additional shower that is directly-mounted on the wall arm itself. The additional shower is supplied with water through the inside of the wall arm. The water supply for the additional shower is independent from the water supply for the shower head.

The invention is based on a support with which a shower head may bemounted at a particular distance from a fixed location.

There are a wide variety of supports with which a shower head may bedetachably, or permanently, mounted at a distance from a wall. In thecase of a known support of that type, a pair of shower heads that may bepivoted about mutually parallel axes is arranged between the legs of aU-shaped, curved arm. The wall-mounting arm, which is configured fromhollow, profiled stock, serves as a water conduit. The pair of showerheads are identically configured and simultaneously supplied with waterfrom a common water supply.

Other types of wall-mounting supports have just a single shower headthat is either attached directly to the arm, or is detachable therefrom.

The problem addressed by the invention is creating a shower support thatwill provide additional showering opportunities and means for devisingshowering procedures.

In order to solve that problem, the invention proposes a shower supporthaving those features stated under claim 1. Elaborations on theinvention are covered under subclaims.

In addition to the usual shower fixture or usual shower head, the showersupport proposed by the invention thus has attached to it a secondshower fixture that will hereinafter be referred to as an “additionalshower fixture.” The latter may beneficially be a showering fixturewhose shape, dimensions, and/or design differ from those of the mainshower fixture. For example, it might be a small shower head, or onethat yields a jet having a totally different structure.

In particular, under an elaboration on the invention, it may be providedthat the additional shower fixture has its own water supply in orderthat it may be supplied with water, if desired, even water at adifferent temperature, independently of the main shower head, where itwill be beneficial if it is provided that the additional shower fixturemay be connected to the main shower fixture in order that the former maythen be operated either In combination with the main shower fixture, oralone.

The separate water supply to the at least one additional shower fixturemay be effected by, for example, providing that it has its own watersupply in the form of its own shower hose. However, it will beparticularly judicious if it is supplied with water via a channelarranged within the arm. That channel may, for example, be connected toa hose connected to a line coming from the mixer faucet, in the vicinityof the mounting fixture. However, it will also be feasible if thechannel is connected directly to a water line inside the mountingfixture in order that no conduits will be visible from outside.

One way in which a water-supply channel may be configured is configuringthe arm in the form of a length of hollow, profiled stock, at least outto the additional shower fixture.

The location at which the additional shower fixture is arranged may bechosen to suit the showering procedure desired. The additional showerfixture may, for example, be mounted immediately adjacent to, or evenoutboard of, the main shower fixture. However, it will be particularlyjudicious if it is arranged between the mounting fixture and the supportfor the main shower head. It may be mounted such that supplements thejet, or array of jets, exiting the main shower fixture.

Under an elaboration on the invention, it may be provided that thedirection of the jet exiting the additional shower fixture isadjustable, where adjustments thereof may be accomplished by, forexample, either altering the positioning of the additional showerfixture as a whole or altering merely part of the additional showerfixture. In particular, rotating it about a fixed, relative to the arm,axis represents one means of adjustment.

According to the invention, under an elaboration thereon, it may beprovided that the at least one additional shower fixture is mounted onthe side of the wall-mounted arm. If several additional shower fixturesare to be involved, it will be judicious to mount them on both sides ofthe wall-mounting arm. Of course, mounting an additional shower fixtureon the underside of the wall-mounting arm will also be feasible, and isproposed by the invention.

If several additional shower fixtures are present, the inventionproposes that all of them be supplied by a common water supply. Groupsof additional shower fixtures may be formed, if desired, in which case,a single, common, water conduit supplying all additional shower fixturesof every group would be provided.

According to the invention, under an elaboration thereon, it may beprovided that the at least one additional shower fixture is permanentlyattached to the arm, rather than being detachable therefrom, where“permanently attached” does not mean that the shower fixture involved isnonadjustable. “Permanently attached” shall also be construed asimplying that the additional shower fixture involved will still bedetachable using a tool. Attaching an additional shower fixture to thewall-mounting arm using a quick-connect coupler, for example, a plug-inconnector, is also feasible, and is proposed by the invention. Theplug-in connector employed will then be configured such that no waterwill exit when the additional shower fixture involved is detached.

It will be particularly beneficial if the arm may be pivoted about ahorizontal, relative to its mounting fixture, axis in order that thereceptacle for the hand-held shower head or shower head may be swungdownward in order to adjust the shower head's location to suit users ofvarious heights. That axis will then be orthogonal to the longitudinalaxis of the arm. The arm may also be rotated about a horizontal axiscoincident with its longitudinal axis in order to shift the direction ofthe jet exiting the shower head to the left or right.

According to the invention, it may be provided that, even if thewall-mounting arm is mounted on the mounting fixture such that it may bepivoted or rotated, the water conduit passes through the linkage joiningthem, which may be accomplished by, for example, providing a sealedfeedthrough, or a hose passing through that linkage.

The shape of the wall-mounting arm may be arbitrary, provided that onlya single additional shower fixture may be attached thereto, whichdictates that the wall-mounting arm must have certain minimumdimensions. For example, under an elaboration on the invention, it maybe provided that the wall-mounting arm is configured in the form of afork whose tines may begin at a particular distance from the mountingfixture. If such a forked arm is employed, according to the invention,it may be provided that the additional shower fixtures are arranged onthe outer faces of both of its tines, which will allow obtaining a moredivergent array of jets, or a more divergent jet.

The shower head may, as usual, be supplied with water by a shower hose,in which case, the connector for connecting the shower hose to the watersupply may also be located on the wall-mounting arm's mounting fixture.

Other features, details, and benefits of the invention will be evidentfrom the following description of a preferred embodiment of theinvention, the claims and the abstract, whose wordings are herewith madepart of this description by way of reference thereto, and the drawings,which depict:

FIG. 1 a schematized side view of a shower support according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 a top view of the shower support shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 a second embodiment of a shower support according to theinvention.

FIG. 1 depicts a greatly simplified side view of a shower supportaccording to the invention. In the case of example shown, this showersupport is mounted on a wall 1. A mounting fixture 2, which, in the caseof the example shown, is in the form of a console 3, serves to attach itto the wall. The console 3 is bolted to the wall. Within the console 3,the shower support is connected to a water line, preferably oneconveying mixed hot and cold water, coming from a mixer faucet. Awall-mounting arm 5 is pivoted on a protrusion 4 on the console 3. Itspivot axis is horizontal and normal to the plane of the paper, i.e.,parallel to the surface of the wall. A setscrew that may be operated bya knob 6 holds the wall-mounting arm 5 in place at a particular angularposition. The wall-mounting arm extends outward from the wall, from themounting fixture 2, to its far end 7. A receptacle, which is notdepicted in detail in FIG. 1, for a shower head 8 is attached to thewall-mounting arm 5 in the vicinity of the latter's far end 7. In thecase of the embodiment shown, the shower head 8 is disk-shaped, althoughit might well have any other shape, and has a handgrip 9 that isslightly angularly offset from the plane of the shower head 8. A showerhose 10 that passes through the handgrip 9 and hangs downward therefrom,forming a loop, leads to the mounting fixture 2.

A pair of additional shower fixtures 11 that spray downward are attachedto that side of the wall-mounting arm 5 that may be seen in FIG. 1. Theyare supplied with water through the interior of the wall-mounting arm 5,which is configured from a length of hollow, profiled stock.

FIG. 2 depicts a simplified view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1. Thewall-mounting arm 5 splits, commencing at a short distance beyond thelocation thereon where it is attached to the console 3, thereby forminga pair of tines 14 that are configured such that they diverge, but areparallel to one another in the vicinity of the far end 7 of thewall-mounting arm, where a receptacle 13 for the shower head 8 isprovided between the tips 12 of the tines 14.

This top view shows that the additional shower fixtures 11 are attachedto the outer faces of the pair of tines 14, which allows the additionalshower fixtures 11, which spray downward, to generate an array of jetshaving a larger cross-sectional area.

FIG. 3 depicts another manner in which a shower support according to theinvention might be configured. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 hasa forked, wall-mounting arm 5 that, when viewed from the side, iscurved, but the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 has a solid wall-mounting arm15. A conical receptacle 16 for a hand-held shower head is schematicallydepicted on the right end, i.e., far end, of the wall-mounting arm 15,in FIG. 3. The hand-held shower head may be inserted therein. In thecase of the example shown, a pair of additional shower fixtures 11, oneon either side of the wall-mounting arm 15, is arranged on thewall-mounting arm 15.

1. A support for a shower head, comprising: a mounting fixture formounting the support such that the support is adjustable, an arm juttingout of the mounting fixture, a receptacle a for a shower head arrangedin the vicinity of the far end of the arm, and at least one additionalshower fixture attached to the arm.
 2. A shower support according toclaim 1, wherein the additional shower fixture can be supplied withwater independently of the shower head.
 3. A shower support according toclaim 1, having a channel passing through the arm and leading to theadditional shower fixture.
 4. A shower support according to claim 1,wherein the arm comprises a length of hollow, profiled stock, at leastfrom the mounting fixture to the additional shower fixture.
 5. A showersupport according to claim 1, wherein the additional shower fixture isarranged between the mounting fixture and the far end of the arm.
 6. Ashower support according to claim 1, wherein a direction of a jetexiting the additional shower fixture is adjustable.
 7. A shower supportaccording to claim 1, wherein the additional shower fixture is mountedon a side of the arm jutting from the mounting fixture.
 8. A showersupport according to claim 1, wherein at least one said additionalshower fixture is mounted on a underside of the arm jutting from themounting fixture.
 9. A shower support according to claim 1, havingseveral additional said shower fixtures and a water-supply conduitcommon to all the additional shower fixtures.
 10. A shower supportaccording to claim 1, wherein the additional shower fixture isnondetachable.
 11. A shower support according to claim 1, wherein atleast one additional shower fixture is attached to the arm by means of aquick-connect coupler.
 12. A shower support according to claim 1,wherein the arm is pivotable about a horizontal axis orthogonal to alongitudinal axis of the arm, on a linkage on the mounting fixture. 13.A shower support according to claim 12, wherein the water conduit passesthrough the linkage.
 14. A shower support according to claim 1, whereinthe arm is configured in the form of a fork.
 15. A shower supportaccording to claim 14, wherein the additional shower fixtures arearranged on outer faces of tines of the fork.
 16. A shower supportaccording to claim 1, wherein the shower head is detachable.
 17. Ashower support according to claim 1, wherein the shower head is suppliedwith water by a hose.